I need some advice on a route from Five Dock to Macquarie Uni. I currently commute daily on a motorbike but have recently increased my kms cycling and thought riding to work a couple of times a week would be a good training run. The issue I have is that the options for getting to Macquarie from the inner west by cycle are poor to say the least. I was wondering if anyone has any route suggestions ? I'm looking for the easiest access to Epping Roads cycle path I guess. Gladesville bridge seems to be a must... including the annoying interchanges.Thanks in advance.

Why not go the other way via Anzac Bridge and SHB. Some extra km, but a nicer ride. If you do want to go west, you could also go via Olympic Park and cross the river at Rhodes/Meadowbank and come into Macquarie park via Eastwood/Marsfield/North RydeGladesville Bridge as an option, but not all that nice.

I don't mind the extra kms to be honest. I'm just wondering about access to the Anzac bridge... does anyone know if the Victoria road bikepath extend all the way east to the bridge from the new bridge near birkenhead point? I'm assuming there are bike path links from Anzac to SHB, so that would be fine. Thanks for the idea.

You could always go around the Bay the other way and join everyone else heading along Lilyfield Rd. Or, cross the bridge and take the back streets parallel to Victoria Rd, cross Balmain Rd, then continue parallel till you hit Lilyfield Rd then take the overpass. Or, after crossing the bridge cross Victoria Rd and take the Balmain back streets.

yes wrote:I don't mind the extra kms to be honest. I'm just wondering about access to the Anzac bridge... does anyone know if the Victoria road bikepath extend all the way east to the bridge from the new bridge near birkenhead point? I'm assuming there are bike path links from Anzac to SHB, so that would be fine. Thanks for the idea.

It did when I rode it a few months ago. I rode from Lane Cove via Gladesville bridge and along the Victoria rd path and bike route. Took us all the way to Anzac Bridge and we then rode via Union St and Pyrmont bridge to Sussex St, down Hickson Rd and up onto the SHB before heading back to Lane Cove via Pac Hwy & Epping Rd SUP.

Not sure what the best way from Five Dock to this route is depends on whether you want quiet back roads. Queens Rd has a decent enough shoulder. I usually ride it if I'm heading to City from Strathfield via Lilyfield.

I would use the 7 stairs at Gladesville bridge in preference to the 50 at SHB. No need to use burns bay rd - there is an easy shared path on the east side of the tarkan bridge

To ride from Drummoyne to Hunters Hill, as you exit the Gladesville Bridge, the designated cycle route is via a 180° corner at the end of the bridge, down alongside the access loop (from Burns Bay Road at Hunters Hill to Victoria Road at Gladesville). You will drop below the road level where there are four stairs on your left. Go down the stairs and through the tunnel before descending a further two flights of stairs to Huntleys Point Road. Ride north along Huntley's Point Road for about 100 metres where there is a path to the left. Take the path up the hill past the southern end of Keeyuga Road, keep to the left hand path which will take you onto the bridge over Tarkan Creek.

Thanks for the link - the Rhodes route seems ok, but again less direct than Gladesville Bridge.

Find_Bruce - do you mean Tarken Creek/bridge? And are you referring to the shared narrow footpath that winds up the hill on the north side of the bridge? Oh.. and what's Ryde Road like? On road riding?

when going over the Gladesville bridge heading North, cross the slip road, then path up to Durham St.

The whole route is pretty easy if your happy in traffic. Uphill on Piddington is a little hairy, but the traffic calmers keep the car speed down a little. Heading downhill, just take the whole lane - you can keep up with the traffic.

Hit the Shrimpton's creek path off Bridge Rd in North Ryde, then follow it all the way to Waterloo Rd (not shown on that route).

* Ryde Rd is fine.. again you should be fairly confident in traffic, though the road is mostly wide. At peak hours, traffic is pretty slow (heading in through Hunter's Hill, you'll be threading through gridlock).* When heading north from Rozelle, cross to the east side after Iron Cove bridge, and use the route down Renwick/Wrights.

For a commute between Five Dock and Macquarie Uni you are blessed with several, IMO, enjoyable and relatively safe options. You can mix it up by going via Rhodes, Gladesville Bridge or SHB. I have attached a Strava link which shows a commute that you could partly follow via Rhodes. You could head up Vimera (common cycle route) taking you into the back of Macquarie Uni.

Thanks for all the help and replies. I think the route is an issue for me only due to the fact that I'm not that confident riding on the road. As I mentioned I commute daily on a motorbike currently and know the (lack) of respect I get on a machine that outdoes any 4 wheel vehicle easily. Perhaps I need to harness this apprehension and just road ride more.

yes wrote:Thanks for the link - the Rhodes route seems ok, but again less direct than Gladesville Bridge.

It doesn't get much more direct than roads if you're coming from Five Dock. Quite safe heading against the traffic as well.

You cannot avoid doing some serious car traffic kilometres from those two points. It doesn't really need to be much simpler than it is, the biggest issue is a willingness to try new roads and work out what is best. It will take weeks to sort out the best route. That's OK, that's part of what makes cycle commuting so great - you can take ownership of how you do things

I did Balmain to Gladesville for four years, over the Gladesville Bridge and up Ryde Road, then down Monash to work.

If you're not confident in traffic there are 'back road' options past St Joseph's school and then past their playing fields which let you avoid the worst bits of Ryde Road (i.e. the Ryde Road/Park Road junction). Beyond Pittwater Road heading west Ryde Road is pretty quiet.

At Gladesville Bridge I initially used the goat track option but after about 6 months decided that, even though it saved me a minute or so each way, it was increasing my chances of an accident too much and from then on I used the steps and tunnel. My commute was only 10ks so the extra uphill climb was probably good for me

i regularly do a loop from home (ashfield) to the city via macquarie and lane cove river park. i basically cycle to rhodes.

so, starting from ashfield i ride to the bay run via five dock. then follow the water until rhodes and cross the bridge, head up the back roads past denistone, eastwood and epping and follow vimera rd to macquarie uni. i keep going from there but the ride that far is only about 20km. so it would be a decent commute. i have a full route that is on quiet roads if you are interested.

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